Love Can Never Falter
by LadySmithCaine
Summary: Chapters 3 & 4 are up! Julia's resurfacing brings troubles onto Calleigh and Horatio's relationship concerning Kyle. In the midst of it all, Hank Kerner escapes from jail once again and he's determined to get even with Calleigh. New summary.
1. Chapter 1

**Author: **LadySmithCaine

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters off of CSI: Miami; they belong to CBS and the producers of the show. I'm just merely borrowing them for my story.

**Pairing: **Horatio/Calleigh (DuCaine)

**Rating: **PG - 13

**Summary: **Julia's resurfacing brings troubles onto Calleigh and Horatio's relationship concerning Kyle. In the midst of it all, Hank Kerner escapes from jail once again and he's determined to get even with Calleigh.

--

Calleigh placed her hands on her hips as she looked out the glass door to the world outside; which consisted of Horatio and and his ex - girlfriend Julia Winston or Eberly. Kyle was in the car and Calleigh sighed at the hurt look on the young boy's face at the sight of his fighting parents, well Julia was doing most of the fighting really.

Julia threw Horatio a cold smirk before she turned around on her heel and slipped into her car. Calleigh's blood boiled at the scene going on in front of her. How dare she hurt Horatio like that? She took her eyes off of the retreating car; the one that was ripping his life apart and pulling him farther away from the only thing he really ever had in his life; and let them fall on her boss who had his eyes down and looking at the ground.

"Oh, Horatio." She whispered to herself as she let her own eyes cast down at her heels. Horatio had never done anything other than try and help her, and what kind of payment was this?

Horatio finally looked up and he found his CSI looking down at her feet. He smiled slightly to himself at the sight of his blonde ballistics expert. She was always there for him, whether to comfort or reassure.

He made his way up the sidewalk and towards Calleigh. She heard the door slide open and then click closed so she brought her head up to look into her boss's beautiful bright blue eyes. He was such a sweet and caring man and she honestly couldn't think of a reason of why Julia would be treating him the way she was.

"Beautiful? Are you okay?" He asked with such tenderness that it almost brought tears to her eyes.

"I should be asking you that, Horatio." She arched her eyebrow to show him that she wanted an answer.

They had been dating for over a year now but she never ceased to amaze him. Even at a time like this; one that could have easily cause a crease in their relationship, she held strong for him.

"No." He answered honestly. "But I'll be fine. Kyle made his choice and it ended up not being with us. He wanted to be with his mother and the judge granted it. What is there for us to really do?"

She shrugged, knowing he was right. "Okay." She gave him one of her bombshell smiles and quickly leaned forward for a kiss. "It will be fine because I'll be here with you until it is. I'm yours forever now, remember?" She held up her left hand to show him her promise ring that he had given her the day of her birthday a couple of months back. "One of the promises was that I'd always be here with you 'til the end."

"Thank you, Calleigh."

"Don't thank me, Handsome. I'm always going to be here. I love you too much to ever leave you and I know that Kyle will come to his senses someday and he _will _come back with us. Don't worry, you'll always be a better parent to your son than Julia ever could be."

"I love you, Cal." He smiled softly before he brought a hand up to her hair and tangled his fingers into the blonde locks in his hands. He crashed his lips onto hers and let them linger there for a moment or two before pulling back and letting out a heavy sigh. "Let's go home."

Calleigh gave him a nod and brought her hand up to touch his face. She ran her hand down over his delicate cheek and let it fall back to her side. "Let me just go grab my things."

He nodded back and she turned around without another word; both silently promising each other that they would be there and together until the end.

--

Calleigh rolled over to look at her sleeping love. She leaned forward and placed a loving, gentle kiss to Horatio's forehead. She watched him sleep for what seemed like hours but when she looked over at the clock, she realized it had only been about five to six minutes. She ran her fingers through his thick red hair and kissed his forehead again. It had been hours after they had arrived at their condo before he had fallen asleep, and she was just grateful that he finally was.

Today had been really traumatic for the both of them but more so for him. His son had been torn away from him by his ungrateful mother who Calleigh really just wanted to have five minutes with alone. She let herself sink down under the covers and she curled herself up against Horatio to get warm. The night was especially chilly and gloomy; just perfect for the mood she was in. She could hear the pitter-patter of the rain outside beating down on the window pain right beside her side of the bed.

She closed her eyes and willed herself to go to sleep. This day could have not gone more wrong than it had and she just wanted to forget about it. She wanted to imagine Kyle smiling at her from his cell and thanking her for making his dad so happy. To be able to hear him playing his music in the next room...

_"You make my dad so happy, happier than I've ever seen a man with his girlfriend. You really do bring out his good side and you always make him smile." With saying that, he brought up a smile, almost identical to Horatio's, and nodded his head. "You really do love him don't you?"_

_"More than I could really ever say. He makes me happier than I've ever been too, and I can't thank him enough for it. Now, now I have two very special men in my life and I'm sure that your dad can't wait for you to be released as well."_

_"Thanks, Miss Duquesne."_

_"You can call me Calleigh, Kyle." _

_"Thanks, Calleigh..."_

But none of that was reality anymore. It had all been snatched away from them and the only sound filling the whole room was that of the rain in the lonely, quiet night. They would probably never be able to have Kyle in their lives again, but Calleigh would always love him as her own no matter what. He was Horatio's son and he had instantly been welcome into her life without a second thought.

She propped herself up on her elbow and glanced over at Horatio again. "Well, get Kyle back somehow, Handsome. If there's one thing that you have ever taught me, it's that you never give up, especially to those who would love to see you fall."

She kissed his lips softly before she fell back onto her pillow and settled against him to go back to sleep. "I love you, Handsome. I'll see you in the mornin'." She assured his sleeping form behind her before she closed her eyes and drifted off into her own sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Calleigh opened her eyes at the sudden crack of thunder outside. It took her awhile to regain all of her senses, but when she did, she realized that it was still raining. She closed her eyes again and let her lazy side take over. She rolled onto her side and opened her eyes again to look over at Horatio. He was beginning to wake up and she decided to help him a bit. She sat up and leaned over him to capture his lips with her own. He finally opened his eyes all the way and Calleigh pulled back with a grin.

"Hi, Handsome."

"Good morning to you too." He replied sleepily. They both fell into a comfortable silence after that while Calleigh laid her head down on his chest. The only sound was that of the rain as it had been last night before Calleigh had gone to sleep.

"Cal... I already miss him." He whispered to her before he kiss the top of her head and buried his face into her golden locks of hair.

Calleigh stayed silent for a long time after that before she finally answered him. "I do too, Horatio..."

The truth was that nothing was the same. It never would be again with Julia resurfacing. She had taken everything she and Horatio had made together and completely crushed all of their dreams. Calleigh, of course, wanted to have a child of her own someday, but she knew that she and Horatio weren't at the stage of that yet so her only hope to ever love a child as a mother was Kyle and Julia had ruined it. She still loved Kyle, but it wasn't the same knowing he wasn't there with them.

"We're going to pull through this together though. He'll come to his senses one day and he _will_ come back home with us. We're not going to let Julia win, Handsome."

She remembered the dirty look that Julia had given her and, on habit, Calleigh had brushed it off. Then again, she hadn't recognized the woman at first and had no idea why she had looked at her like that. Later on in the day, she was informed about everything and she finally understood what Julia had meant by it.

She knew that Horatio was hurt and disappointed that Kyle had chosen to leave, so was Calleigh, but there wasn't much they could do as he had said.

"You know, Julia told Kyle that if he chose to stay with me, he wouldn't have the life he would have with her. She told him that I wouldn't be a father to him since I was too busy with work and being with you."

Calleigh's face fell as she heard him say the last part. "Horatio... I never meant to get inbetween you and your son..."

"You didn't, Sweetheart. Julia just said that to make him choose her."

"I'm sorry if I did." She added as if she hadn't heard his last statement.

He took both of her hands in his and shook his head. He kissed her fingertips and smiled softly at her. "Trust me. You didn't. Julia'll say whatever she can grab on to to make it seem like we're unfit parents for Kyle."

Calleigh couldn't help but smile slightly as he added her to the "parents". She nodded her head finally and snuggled closer to him while he moved their hands down onto her stomach, inbetween them. "If I ever do, do something wrong, please tell me. And I do trust you, with every fiber of my being."

"I will and I'm glad because the same goes for you." He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I love you so much, Cal. God, do I love you; more than I could ever try to explain." He added after he had pulled back.

She smiled and leaned forward again to press another couple of kisses to his lips. "Mmm, I love you very much as well. I can't imagine what my life would be without you."

"You never will."

"Good."

They sealed their promise with another kiss and when they finally both pulled back, they let their heads fall back onto their pillows and held each other while they fell back asleep into a later-than-usual morning.

--

Calleigh groaned when the alarm next to her head went off at noon. She knocked it off of the table on accident and groaned again. She looked over the edge of the bed and down to the now silent clock. "Damn." She muttered under her breath when she realized that it had gone blank. She pulled it back onto the nightstand and decided to leave it like it was. She would just go buy a new one later on that day.

She yanked the blankets over her body again and pressed her face into her pillow. She heard him chuckle next to her and she opened her eyes to look over at him. "You find me so amusing in the mornings, don't you?"

"I do." Was his only reply and she shook her head before pressing her face back into her pillow.

"I'm still sleepy; go back to sleep for another two hours." She said, though she was muffled by the pillow.

"Well, I'm fully awake now due to some very loud talking and breaking."

"I was not that loud, was I?"

"You were."

"Ugh." She groaned into the pillow before she turned onto her side and looked at him. "Fine you win. I'm awake but don't you even think I'm getting out of bed. It's cold and I'm quite cozy where I am."

"Well, that's good to hear since I am too and I had no intention of getting either of us out of bed."

"Mhm."

"Well, aren't you the difficult one now?"

"I am not difficult, I'm just stubborn."

"Is there really a difference?" He asked her with a smirk.

"I don't know... Is there? My mind's still asleep, Handsome. You're gonna have to help me on this."

Horatio laughed and brought her into his arms. He moved over so that he was snuggled around her and gently slid his hand through her silky hair. "No, there isn't."

"Fine, then I guess I'm both." She grinned and pressed herself back against him. She closed her eyes and rested her head down on his pillow. "Are you feeling better?"

"Always. Especially when I'm with the woman of my dreams who I just happen to be in love with."

"Good. And I love you too. I've been in love with you since the very first moment I saw you."

"I as well, Sweetheart."

The phone on Horatio's side started to ring and both let out a loud groan in unison. He picked it up and furrowed his eyebrows at the number on the screen.

"What is it?" She asked curiously at the expression on his face.

"I don't know." He flipped the phone open and sighed heavily. "Hello?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Horatio." Came Julia's reply through the phone. "I need to ask you a favor... about Kyle."

"Julia, if you want me to take him in while you take off with one of your random guys, I will, but you won't be getting him back."

"Oh, please. And what do you do with Calleigh, hmm? You have to put most of your attention on her most of the time."

"That's absolutely none of your business. What Cal and I do in our relationship is only between the two of us."

_'Hel-lo.'_Calleigh's interest immediately perked up. She gave Horatio a questioning look and he just gave her a small smile.

"Whatever. I'm not interested anyways." She sneered into the phone. "I just need two days, Horatio. Don't you want to be with your son?"

"Oh, so now you're trying to be the sensible one? After you took Kyle away you want to throw him right back over here while you head off for at least a week?"

"I only need two days."

"Don't lie to me, Julia. Although you tend to almost all of the time; actually it's all you do."

"Are you going to take him or _not_?"

"I will, but like I said earlier; if he comes, he stays."

Julia raised her voice and she practically hissed into her phone. "You can't do that! He's my son - "

"He's mine as well, but that didn't stop you. You abandoned him once, how do I know you won't do it again?"

"I wouldn't."

"Fine, Julia, but if you're not back in two days I'm going to file child abandonment. I'm not going to let you hurt Kyle again."

"I'll bring him by tomorrow." She answered before hanging up.

Horatio set the phone on the nightstand and turned to Calleigh. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. When is she bringing him?"

"Tomorrow. I hope you don't mind, Sweetheart?"

She gave him one of her bombshell smiles and shook her head. "Never. It seems like it's going uphill for us now. Julia may not be back in two days and that'll give us custody, right?"

"Right." He grinned at her and pulled her close to him.

"Handsome?"

"Yeah, Cal?"

"I'm hungry. We haven't eaten a thing."

He grinned and pressed his face down against her neck before he started trailing loving kisses along it. "What would you like to eat, Beautiful?"

She shook her head and sunk down underneath the covers to the feeling of his gentle lips. "Umm..."

Horatio smiled as he continued his kisses and moved them up along her jaw. "Hmm?" He asked her.

"Stop... it..." She shivered slightly and he did as she asked. He pulled back with a grin and landed on his pillow. "No." She groaned and rolled over to face him.

"You said to stop." He laughed and held up his hands defensively.

"I didn't mean it!" She dropped her head down onto his shoulder and shook her head again.

"Well, now who made that very unclear?"

"You."

"Me? How so?"

"Being you."

"Well, that's very understandable." He told her sarcastically.

"I know." She looked up at him with a small smile and shrugged.

"So, what do you want to eat?" He asked her again as he reached for a stray strand of her blonde hair falling across her face and he lovingly pushed back to join the rest of her thick waves.

Horatio's phone rang again and Calleigh was really getting tired of being interrupted.

He sighed and reached out for his phone once again. "Horatio." He answered.

((Sorry to bother you today after the whole Julia thing, H... but we have a DB down in South Beach.)) Eric told him quietly.

"Okay. I'll be there in about an hour."

"'Kay. See you then."

He flipped his phone shut and looked over at Calleigh.

She opened her mouth to say something but her phone started to ring as well. "I swear, they have the worst timin'."

He chuckled and immediately silenced himself when she opened her phone.

((Cal? It's Ryan. We need you down in South Beach; we got a murder.))

Calleigh sighed and nodded her head against the phone. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay. Catch ya later."

"Bye."

She set her phone on her nightstand. "You know, we're gonna get caught one of these days with you laughing while I'm on the phone." She teased.

No one besides Alexx, the guys, Frank and now Julia knew about their relationship.

"It was only Ryan, anyways." He grinned at her.

She nodded and threw the covers off of her. "I guess it's time to get up; our day off isn't going to be today." She sighed and slipped out of bed before she went over to the closet to get her clothes out for the day.

Horatio raised his eyebrows and gave Calleigh a firm nod before turning back to their closet and pulling out one of his suits. He laid it out on the bed next to Calleigh's things and closed his eyes as he shook his head when his cell rang again.

"Horatio." He answered tiredly into his cell.

((Horatio, it's Frank. Have you heard from Calleigh at all this morning? It's real important to know where exactly she is.))

"What? Why?"

((Hank Kerner escaped from prison again.))

The sentence hit Horatio with full force as he let his mind register it. This couldn't be happening. Not now.

He looked over at Calleigh and sighed softly into the phone. He closed his eyes again and chose to accept it.

"Yes, I called her a few minutes ago. She's heading over to the crime scene over in South Beach. I'll let her know and thank you for informing us."

((Alright, and you know I would have had to tell you anyway. I'll talk to you later, Horatio. Bye.))

He took in a deep breath and nodded again before closing his phone for the third time. "Cal, Sweetheart, we need to talk."

She had just pulled on her shirt when he had started to speak and nodded as she untucked her hair from it. "About?" She gave him a confused look and went over to the mirror to apply her make-up.

"Come here." He held out his arms to her and she turned around before moving towards him and letting him pull her onto his lap.

He kissed her head and and moved her slightly to where she could face him. "Um, well... Hank Kerner escaped again and I don't want you to be out in the field alone, do you understand? He's almost gotten to you once and if I ever lost you..." He let his voice fade out and just held her for a few moments while she took it in.

"Horatio, I'll be fine. He _almost_ got to me last time, but I got to him first. I'm a big girl, Handsome. I'll be fine."

"I know you can take care of yourself, Cal. But he's tried to kill you once, what'll stop him from doing it again and succeeding this time? This man is dangerous; he's already escaped twice and they had him in death row."

"I'll be fine." She repeated.

"You're at least going to have the case with me, okay?"

Her eyes lit up at his suggestion and she nodded. She knew she would be safe with Horatio by her side and she'd have time to spend with him too. "Fine, we can make that work out perfectly."


	4. Chapter 4

Calleigh slid her sunglasses on over her eyes as she quickly made her way through the sand and towards the ME crouching down next to a young woman's body. She looked up and realized that Horatio had gone his own way to talk with one of the uniformed officers but she caught him keeping a close eye on her. She shook her head but couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she looked back at Alexx. She grinned at Calleigh and motioned towards the body with one of her gloved hands. "Single gunshot wound to the head." She reported to her and Calleigh sat up straighter. Kerner couldn't have gotten to someone this fast, could he?

She instantly moved to a postition where she could check out what the wound looked like and let out a relieved sigh when she saw that it didn't have a muzzle stamp. Alexx gave her a quick furrow of her eyebrows before turning back to the body; she would get an answer out of her later even if she had to force it out of her.

"There's no GSR around the wound or on her body or clothes, so I'd say she was paying attention to something else other than the killer. Poor baby, you didn't even see it coming, did you?" She asked the girl as she stroked her chocolate brow hair. She looked back up at Calleigh and addressed her about her reaction to the COD. "You okay, honey? You seem a little off today."

"Oh, you know me, Alexx, I'm fine." She gave her one if her dazzling Southern smiles and looked back down at the body, trying to get her friend's attention off of her.

"Yes, I do know you, so I know you're lying when you say you're fine."

"Really, it's nothing."

"Did you and Horatio have a fight?" She asked the blonde CSI quietly enough for only the two of them to hear.

"No. Do you really think Horatio would allow that?"

"You're right. So what's wrong?"

"Do you remember the case with the little girl, Emma? Her father and uncle were killed by Hank Kerner once their escape helicopter landed. Well, he's escaped again and it's just bothering me that he's out to get _me _but he's killing _other people_ to do that. No, we haven't had a report of another murder, but if he's out there, he's going to kill countless of people again."

"And you're blaming yourself because of those future murders if there _are_ going to be any." It was more of a statement than a question. "Actually don't answer that."

Calleigh shrugged and moved her camera from beside her. "Yeah. But I have to focus on this murder and not Kerner."

Horatio strode over and noticed Calleigh's tense posture and Alexx's worried facial expression. "Ladies." He greeted in his usual manor and frowned when neither looked up.

"Hi, Baby." Alexx looked up finally, but she didn't give him her usual smile.

"Is everything alright?" He asked as he knelt down next to Calleigh.

"Yeah. Just chatting some, but we're back on track now, Handsome." She gave him a smile but he saw that it didn't reach her eyes.

"Okay. So do we have an ID on the victim?"

"Yes." Alexx spoke up. "Carla Jamison, 21." She handed the purse she had recovered from under the body to him.

He started to look through it as Calleigh stood up and started snapping pictures of the gunshot wound and the disheveled clothes along with numerous bruises and cuts along her arms and face. "She fought back." Calleigh noted aloud as she continued taking her pictures.

Horatio looked up and noticed what she was talking about before nodding. "Maybe he had another weapon?" He asked Alexx with a tilt of his head. "But you'll know more at post, right?" He smiled at his ME and she grinned back.

"Always do. Boys, you can load her now." She called to the assistants she had brought along with her. "You don't let this get to you, Calleigh. It's not your fault that there's some crazy killer out there trying to kill you. Stay strong, for you and Horatio." She whispered to Calleigh as she stood up.

"Always do." She grinned at the ME as she used her words.

Alexx laughed, shook her head and followed behind her crew.

Once she was gone, Calleigh turned towards Horatio and smirked. "You know, you don't have to watch me every single second."

"Oh yes, I do."

"Why is that?" She asked him curiously.

"I love you and I'm not going to let you get hurt just because you tell me to pay attention to something else."

She smiled softly at Horatio and nodded. "You're so sweet, you know that? I don't know if I'm good enough for you."

"So we're both at our doubts then." He smiled back at her and shook his head. "I love you, Cal, and I'm certain that you love me back, right?"

Calleigh laughed softly and nodded her head. "Of course I do."

"And that's all that matters. We're together and happy."

"You're right. Nothing else matters. Not anything and not anyone."

He gave her the smile he only reserved for her and nodded. "C'mon. We'll let Mr. Wolfe and Eric take over here." Horatio helped Calleigh gather her kit before he held out his hand to help her up. She took it and grinned while she told him that people would start to suspect once he started holding things for her.

"Let them." He laughed. "They can't do anything about it and I have an issue about us to talk to the Chief about. Hopefully he'll understand. I mean, if it's okay with you if I talk to him." He knew that Calleigh had been dying to let people know about them and Horatio had too. But with Stetler watching their every move, they couldn't. Now, if the Chief agreed to let them continue their relationship without punishment, they would be able to let the news out in the open for everyone.

"Of course. I hope that he will understand too. We both love our jobs and I don't know how that would be for us. I'm so used to being around you during work that I don't think I could take being somewhere else without you."

Horatio gave her his special smile again and nodded. "The same here, Sweetheart. We'd better get to the Hummer soon though."

"Why?" She asked curiously.

"Because Jake Berkeley is looking over here and so are some of the other officers."

Calleigh looked up and saw that they were in fact looking. She avoided Jake's eyes and let her head drop with a smile. "I'm guessing we should go then."

Horatio laughed. "I guess maybe you were right about me holding your things."

She shrugged and started to the Hummer. "Told ya."

He shook his head and caught up to her. "Mhm, you did." He pulled the Hummer's keys out of his pocket and unlocked the doors before he opened the back one and placed Calleigh's kit in the backseat. He shut the door and went over to the driver's side before getting in. He watched as Calleigh made her own way into the SUV and he couldn't help but smile as she sat down and shut the door.

"What?" She asked him when she finally looked up.

"You're beautiful." He commented, which made her smile.

"And you're sexy, but hey, we can't talk like that at work, Mr. Professional."

Horatio laughed and started the vehicle. "I'm sorry then."

"Apology accepted." She teased. "But what exactly are we gonna do while the Hardy Boys are here?"

"I'm going to keep you hostage at the lab until they get back."

"Horatio..." She started in a warning tone and gave him her piercing glare.

"Cal, please? This man is dangerous. He's tried to kill you before and he's not going to stop until he does! I don't know what I'd do without you, Calleigh. Please, just do this one favor for me. I let you stay on the Jamison case and Kerner's. Can you do me this one favor?"

She brought her gaze down and finally nodded. "Okay, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, Sweetheart. I just want to keep you safe."

"I know." She smiled softly at him and he returned the smile before he pulled away from the curb and headed towards the lab.


End file.
